


Afloat

by Serpentsign



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 08:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serpentsign/pseuds/Serpentsign
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bobby is a shipwrecked sailor with little hope of surviving. He's desperate enough to make a deal with a curious merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afloat

Bobby came to slowly. And it hurt like hell. His head was pounding, his mouth was dry as paper and  every breath burned like a wildfire in his lungs. The heat and the fire in his lungs came to sharp contrast against the water around him, lapping against him, treacherous and cold. as he held himself afloat on a charred piece of the galley door.

Something brushed against his calf, barely more than a whisper of water moving, and he almost fell face first into the water as he scrambled to get more of his body out of the water and onto the door. When he regained his balance he was breathing heavily, his burning lungs forgotten. The new position on his stomach also made it possible for him to peer straight down into the depths beneath him. Although he wasn’t sure if he was better off seeing whatever had brushed against him or if he should just close his eyes and hope for the best. The best being not a shark and not one of those bloody-

A shadow moved in water, just deep down enough to be hard to differentiate from the surrounding darkness and close enough for Bobby to see the long, strong shape of it.

He blinked and it was gone. Muttering swearwords under his breath he squinted and tried to find the shadow again, finding the idea of knowing that there was something down there and seeing it much more comforting than knowing that something was down there and not seeing where it was.

He quickly took those words back though. Seeing as the shadow was back and coming closer to the surface at some speed.

Bobby closed his eyes.

“Ahoy, sailor.” a male someone drawled.

“Balls.” Bobby said emphatically. Great. Now he had to be skinned and drowned while someone was talking to him. Just his luck to bump into a merman in the middle of nowhere, so very far from their usual haunts  along the reefs and the shallows.

“I wouldn’t even kiss a whore with a mouth like that.”

Now, merpeople weren’t exactly known for their rich use of language. No stories of merpeople mentioned anything but their penchant for drowning and devouring seamen. And yet this one had greeted him with humour in its voice and talked about whores as if it was familiar with the life on land.

Bobby looked up only to see that he was almost face to face with the merman. Dark hazel eyes watched him full of curiosity and its gaze was oddly intense in a way that had Bobby shivering despite the heat.  The merman’s hair was short and dark, giving a good view of the gills on the side of the neck.

“You’re far away from home, merman.” He ventured, not knowing what to say because the stories about meeting merpeople we’re, well, stories. Not many met one of the merpeople and lived to tell the tale. The merman shrugged, its shoulders showing above the surface for a moment. Bobby blinked. Even if it had only been a glimpse of skin it was clear as day that the merman had tattoos on both his shoulders. Dragoon tattoos.

“To be fair: so are you, sailor.” It looked around, squinting at the horizon,”Where’s your ship? Well, what’s left of it.”

“Even if I knew, why would I tell you? So that you can chomp down the rest of the crew?” The merman actually looked affronted at that. It schooled its face and smiled a sharp, dangerous smile and shook its head.

“We don’t actually eat people, you know.”

“But you do drown them?”

“Only a little.” the merman smirked but continued in a more sombre tone: “Death does not last long. Their life shall begin anew” and it sounded like he was quoting someone. And suddenly it all made sense – the tattoos and the humanity in the creature.

“You turn them.” The merman nodded. “How?”

“I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself.” He must have made a horrified expression because the merman continued coolly, “Unless you’d rather drown or be eaten by sharks, of course.”

“How about you take me to nearest land instead?” The merman actually threw his head back and laughed at this.

“And what would be my gain in that?”

“My eternal gratitude?”

“How about a kiss?”

“Excuse me?”

“The turn is started by a kiss, and I was so looking forward to turning you that I sort of feel cheated.” Bobby stared at the merman suspiciously.

“One kiss and then you’ll take me to land?”

“By the sea herself, I swear.” The merman put its right hand on its chest and the left raised in the air.

“Okay then.” The merman smiled, all teeth and barely hidden glee. It put a hand on the door Bobby was on and the other on Bobby’s shoulder, pulling itself up to Bobby’s height. The cold, wet hand on Bobby’s red shoulder was sweet relief and he couldn’t stop the sigh that fell from his lips. He closed his eyes as the merman’s grip on his shoulder tightened and it started to lean in. Just when Bobby could feel its breath across his face he opened his eyes. “Wait.” The merman who’d been staring solely at his lips, looked at him sharply, “What’s your name. I’m feelin’ a bit stupid kissing sea creatures I don’t even know by first name.” The merman blinked but didn’t let go of Bobby’s shoulder or even back off a little bit.

“The name’s Crowley.”

“Bobby Singer. Should we shake hands?”

“I think we’re past that part by now.” Crowley murmured and kissed him.

The merman’s lips were cold, wet and just as much of a relief for his parched lips as the hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t imagine that it was a particularly nice kiss for Crowley seeing as Bobby’s lips  were dry and he was too wrapped up in thoughts about exactly how much he was supposed to partake in the kiss to actually kiss back. It didn’t seem to bother Crowley though, because he moved his hand to Bobby’s neck, making Bobby gasp from the sudden cold, and lapped once into his mouth before pulling away.

“Well,” Crowley said as he licked his lips, “get off that piece of wood and grab my shoulder.”

With a minimum of grumbling and swearing they managed to manoeuvre Bobby until he had his arm across Crowley’s shoulders, his head rested against his back, and wasn’t too much in the way for the merman as he swam.

On the whole it wasn’t too uncomfortable, Crowley’s movements were fluid and strong despite the extra weight and Bobby actually managed to close his eyes and dose off after a few hours of forcing himself to stay awake. Which was of course when Crowley suddenly dove and dragged Bobby with him beneath the surface. Bobby barely had time to process what was happening, the pang of fear and betrayal was too strong, before Crowley resurfaced again.

“What the hell?!” Bobby spluttered.

“I do have to breathe, you know.” Bobby felt a little stupid at that, but muttered about maybe giving a little warning next time. And Crowley did warn him the next time, and the time after that, by elbowing him in the ribs.

When Crowley elbowed him for the fifth time Bobby just took a deep breath without opening his eyes. When he wasn’t immediately pulled into the water he opened his eyes and startled at their new surroundings. They were currently making their way upstream a river that moved slowly beneath the shadows of the trees growing on both sides. Crowley had slowed down significantly by now and he seemed to sag in relief when the river curved and they entered big still pool of water with a waterfall. Bobby could feel the merman shake as he swam the last few feet to the shallow part of the pool where he could put Bobby down without him drowning.

Bobby drank the fresh water for what felt like ages and it was only when he finally looked up that he noticed that Crowley hadn’t moved and inch beside him. The merman was laying on his back, resting on the bottom of the pool, with only his face above the surface. The gills on the neck we’re moving slightly as he breathed in and out. He looked pale and small tremors ran through his whole body every now and again.

He was truly a magnificent creature, Bobby had to admit; he was old, yes, and not at all as lithe as his movements would suggest but he was strong and the muscles in his shoulders and abdomen were pronounced even with the layer of fat covering them. Further down the skin turned seamlessly into shiny, almost black scales covering a tail that seemed to go on forever. Bobby reached out to touch it without thinking but managed to stop himself and look at Crowley. The merman didn’t seem bothered about being touched, instead he snorted and waved his hand towards his tail.

“Go on then. I won’t bite, I promise.”

The scales were soft to the touch when he ran his hand downwards and rough when he ran it upwards. Bobby repeated the movement a few times, completely enthralled by the way tail moved and the scales caught the sunlight. Crowley emitted a strangled sound and swatted Bobby’s hand away as it moved further down on the tail. “That tickles.” He murmured but didn’t look at Bobby as he raised the tail fin out of the water, splashing water over both of them like rain.

***

Years later the people in the village on the other side of the island would tell stories about a man who lived alone in a cottage facing the sea. They’d tell stories about how the man was rescued by a merman from a shipwreck and taken to the island where she stayed and built a home far away from the rest of the islanders. They’d tell stories about how you could sometimes see the man wade through the shallow water staring out at the sea as if waiting for someone. And they’d tell stories about how sometimes you would see a dark haired merman join him.


End file.
